Perhapablog

Sunday, January 14, 2007

an ice storm and twin peaks...

okay…



they are talking some serious rain and ice storms for my area of the hudson valley for tomorrow and through the first part of this week. all my life i’ve always loved inclement weather and really dig watching what nature can do. storms, blizzards, you name it--it’s always an awesome display to me! being snowed in can be a wonderful experience and I even enjoy driving in snow storms and rain. go figure.

anyway, that’s neither here nor there. it was pretty rainy and gloomy here all weekend too. sharon and i spent most of it obsessed with finishing up twin peaks on dvd and were treated to some fo the scariest--and the funniest--moments i think i’ve ever seen on network tv. funny too that i was reading through my lastest issue of entertainment weekly to see that they’d named leland palmer as one of the scariest television villains ever. it’s a wacky ride--it’s david lynch, after all--one of my heroes--not only as a director and storyteller, but as an actor--his character on the show as fbi district chief gordon cole absolutely KILLS me--so original, so funny! anyway, as i was saying, it’s a wacky ride, and maybe and acquired taste, but if you ever wanna have some fun, check this series out.




as for the answers to our “five on friday”, it seems i should have specified (my bad!) that we were looking for the star playing the same role in prime time television. i never meant to dis on the soaps and i am certain that there are actors on those programs that have been on far longer. my apologies for the confusion and the slight.
here are the answers.

1. what lollypop-sucking 70's tv detective was, in real life, the godfather to a member of the cast of 'friends'? (know 'em both)

telly savalas (kojak) and jennifer aniston (rachel)

2. urban legend time; what child star supposedly died when he mixed pop rocks with coke?

mikey from the life cereal commercial(s) (he likes it! hey, mikey!) also, this urban legend is NOT true.

3. what television star holds the record for playing the same character the longest?



it’s a tie between james arness--marshall matt dillon of “gunsmoke” and kelsey grammer as frasier crane on “cheers” and “frasier” (there are some arguments as arness didn’t appear in all of the episodes in the last 2 seasons due to health issues. but, while frasier was introduced in the second season of “cheers”, he too did not appear in every episode that year. fight!)

4. in 1996's "a very brady sequel", who was revealed to be carol's first husband?

carol’s first husband was revealed to be the professor from “gilligan’s island”
(and while we’re on it; though that first ”the brady bunch movie” was a bit of a waste, poking fun at the 70’s and the wholesomeness of the original show, “a very brady sequel” is well worth the watch as they skewed some of the very best episodes and updated them, especially in the [uncomfortable] situation of who should get the attic room, greg or marcia. go rent it--it’s squirm inducing fun!)

5. how many campers did jason voorhees kill in the first "friday the 13th"?



one answer is zero--it was all mrs. voorhees, jason’s mother, out to punish the counselors that let her son drown. the other answer is one, in the very last scene jason springs up to grab alice outta the boat, because we didn’t find out until the sequel that that was actually alice’s dream.
(also, how’d they get that arrow through kevin bacon’s neck…?)

there will be more trivia on friday
and more blog here on wednesday!

smell ya later!
todd

8 comments:

Bill Nolan said...

The Professor. It's been so long since I saw the movie, but at least I was on the right track. I remember something about Gilligan's dad, maybe, too... whatever.

And all my trees are covered in ice. Today is not going to be fun. At least the kids are off from school... but I think I'm pretty much trapped here. If it's OKish, maybe I'll take them out for lunch. Unlike you, tho', I hate driving in bad weather... or at night even...

Brian said...

I loved the first season of Twin Peaks - is that where Choopie's love of pie comes from - and the music was so good that it got me to buy the soundtrack, which I still have, though its been a while since I've watched it. The characters, the story - a more than season long mystery, an idea whose time has come, judging from Lost - and the visuals - that lone stop light swaying the in the breeze at night is still etched in my mind - were revolutionary for network television. However, in the second season the show lost it and lost it fast.
The country went from asking "Who Killed Laura Palmer?" to "Who Cares?" in half a season.

For me, it seemed David was just throwing in out there ideas and characters merely to be out there. Maybe he lost interest, maybe it was the need to try to strecth his original idea out over 5 years, the point where the producers have enough episodes for syndication and can actually make some money. I don't know, but it stopped working for me and, based on the bad reviews, I never even bothered to watch the movie, "Fire Walk with Me."

Have you ever read any of the books by David Frost, Lynch's partner on the show. I thought "The List of Seven" was very good.

As for the local weather, it rained all day here Sunday and it looks like more of the same for Monday. However, no ice or dangerous driving conditions for us so far.

Scott Weinstein said...

Speaking of Twin Peaks and season-long story arcs... I just read today that the producers of Lost are trying to set up an end date with ABC for the series. So, they will know, for example, that May-- 2009 will be the finale, and they can plan accordingly. I applaud that. Of course that means that all their previous statements about having things plotted out is not so honest. But, at least they are aware of the pitfalls. X-Files being a prime example of something stretched too long.

I told Todd about this the other day, but I was listening to a podcast interview with Bryan Fuller, one of the producers on Heroes. (And the craetor of the short-lived, but very awesome Wonderfalls.) And he was asked about Ali Larter (the crazy stripper) and how her powers worked. And his answer was that it was still being debated among the show's writers. Which I find disconcerting. THat should have been decided before she ever appeared on screen. But, I'll still keep watching because Claire's awesome.

SCOTT

alison said...

Okay, todd, on your recommendation I've added the brady sequel to my netflix queue. Never saw Twin Peaks, don't think we had cable yet (or the channel) when it was on, but I've been planning to add it to the queue after I catch up on Dead Like Me.

Enjoy the weather - I miss it - but at least it is getting down in the 60s at night here - break out the light flannel pjs! :-)

okay, I just checked netflix - all they have is the first season, sans the 2 hour pilot, and the Fire walk movie. So, those of you who have seen it, is it worth me getting into or am I just going to be left hanging with too many unanswered questions? How many seasons did it run?

And what about Wonderfalls - does the series where they end it feel ended or does it feel like an unfinished series?

todd said...

hi, alison--
and everybody--
as i said, twin peaks is kind of an acquired taaste and as brian said, the plot does seem to unravel in the second season. so skip twin peaks...

but DO NOT MISS wonderfalls!!! easily one of the two greatest cancelled way-too-early-what-the-@^%$!-were-those-idiots-at-fox-thinking shows that was ever made! it is excellent! in concept, in story, in casting! don't miss it!

the other one: firefly.

Brian said...

I cannot second Todd's recommendation on Firefly more highly. Watch the series first and then the movie.

Fred said...

>but DO NOT MISS wonderfalls!!! easily one of the two greatest cancelled way-too-early-what-the-@^%$!-were-those-idiots-at-fox-thinking shows that was ever made! it is excellent! in concept, in story, in casting! don't miss it

Wonderfalls is right up there with Dead Like Me as far as all-time favorite series. Both have very similar feels and the most richly developed characterization that I've seen in the medium.

alison said...

Okay, Wonderfalls is added to the queue, as is Firefly (had never even heard of that one) - thanks, guys.

Hey Todd, Firefly reminds me - I read somewhere in browsing your blog - no wait - it was in your interview with Mike, about his love of Miyazaki films. Have you gotten around - YET - to watching My Neighbor Totoro that he gave you? If not, shame! Especially since Chay and I also recommended it - and Miyazaki films in general - when we saw it on your shelf. (Grave of Fireflies is also Miyazaki - hence the segue.)

Scott, As for Heroes not being fully fleshed out - I have been a sounding board for a friend who is writing a novel and it is just amazing how the characters take on a life of their own and seem to go where they want in the story at times. Also, how things that raise questions for me in terms of what are the details, didn't even cross her mind when writing. If Heroes doesn't have a definite end date in sight I bet a lot of the details are still works in progress. Especially with such a multi-charactered series like that - too many subplots all somehow revolving around the main plot, the detail load must be incredible.

Don't know why you think Claire is amazing, but I think she was a total trip as she studiously went about battering herself. Aside from that, I love that she is at the center of one of the best catch phrases to come down the pike in awhile. Hiro is my favorite, though. He's adorably lovable and it's great how delighted he is with his power. (Though my guys keep saying that he looks like he's constipated every time he concentrates his power. Oh,well.)